Wall

Once the wealthiest nation in Latin America, Venezuela's vast oil reserves have not shielded it from descending into a profound economic crisis. This downturn has sparked the largest migration movement within the continent, with over five million Venezuelans departing to seek better opportunities in neighboring countries. Initially, many sought refuge in Colombia, but as opportunities dwindled and survival became increasingly difficult, a significant number of Venezuelans ventured further south to Peru, Chile, and even Argentina in pursuit of a livelihood.

The countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are all members of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), which, until June 2019, allowed for visa-free travel among its member states. This policy facilitated the movement of people facing economic and social challenges within their home countries.

However, the situation shifted on June 15, 2019, when Peru revised its immigration policies concerning Venezuelan migrants, introducing a requirement for a humanitarian visa to enter the country. This move marked a significant policy shift aimed at managing the influx of Venezuelan migrants. Shortly thereafter, on August 25, Ecuador adopted a similar stance, imposing visa requirements on Venezuelans wishing to enter its borders. These changes reflect the broader regional responses to the Venezuelan migration crisis, underscoring the challenges of balancing humanitarian support with national security and resource management.

Upon arriving in Tumbes, a Peruvian town nestled at the border with Ecuador, many Venezuelan immigrants learned for the first time about the new visa requirements to enter Peru. Venezuelans now needed a valid Peruvian visa to continue their journey southward. To apply for this visa, they were required to travel to Loja, the nearest Ecuadorian city with a Peruvian consulate. Complicating matters further, re-entry into Ecuador necessitated a valid Ecuadorian visa, creating a bureaucratic loop that left thousands stranded at the Peru-Ecuador border.

In documenting this scenario, I shifted away from conventional documentary photography. Instead, I concentrated on a modest section of the wall within the Peruvian immigration office complex. This specific location became emblematic of the immigrants' suspended dreams, representing the physical and bureaucratic barrier halting their progress into Peru. Over 15 days, I captured the ebb and flow of immigrants who gathered, rested, or waited in front of this wall, photographing them in their "found situation".

Each photograph was taken in what I refer to as their "found situation" — a method ensuring that the subjects and their possessions were documented exactly as they were encountered, without any staging or alteration. Following the visual documentation, I engaged with the migrants to delve into their personal stories, conducting interviews that would bring depth and context to the images. These conversations were initiated only after the photographs were taken, respecting the migrants' privacy and dignity by seeking their consent to share their stories.These captions offer a glimpse into the lives of Venezuelan immigrants caught in a web of international policy and the pursuit of a better future.

Location: Tumbes, Peru

Date: 19/08 - 03/09/2019

Methodological Approach and Critical Reflection

Rather than pursuing the conventional documentary approach of capturing emotionally charged or dramatically suffering moments that typically characterize forced migration narratives, the photographer deliberately chose to document what appeared to be static and serene scenes of immigrants processing paperwork and waiting. This methodological choice was rooted in revealing the extraordinary nature embedded within the seemingly mundane process of "waiting" — a liminal state that defines much of the migrant experience yet remains largely invisible in mainstream visual discourse. By focusing on the varied relationships between people in the images and their differential ability to cross the "wall" based on the identity documents they possessed, these images sought to avoid reducing the individuals to mere "migrating objects" defined solely by their displacement. The wall itself functions as both literal barrier and metaphorical stage, prompting a self-critical examination of the documentary photographer's own position within this process. This approach questions whether photographers inadvertently corner people with lived experiences into predetermined visual frames, transforming complex human realities into digestible spectacles designed to capture audience attention and critique social issues. The work interrogates the extent to which such documentary efforts genuinely raise awareness about crises experienced by "others," or whether they risk further alienating the lived realities of the people photographed by converting their experiences into visual commodities for exhibition walls — ultimately reducing individuals with complex lives and stories to objects of voyeuristic consumption that serve to inform, civilize, and perhaps most troublingly, entertain audiences while maintaining comfortable distances from the actual struggles being documented.

Yajaira gives Deyaluz a farewell hug before she takes off to Lima with her daughter Maria.

Yajaira and Deyaluz, both from Puerto Cabello, are close friends since childhood. Two years ago, Yajaira alone left Venezuela to make a living in Lima, Peru, leaving her child Maria at home with her relatives. One month ago, when Yajaira heard that Deyaluz was going to relocate to Lima, Yajaira asked Deyaluz to bring her daughter Maria to Lima. Deyaluz has a valid passport with both entry and exit stamps from Ecuador, yet her entry to Peru was denied because she doesn’t have a visa for Peru. Yajaira had to travel to the Peruvian border to pick up her daughter, while Deyaluz had to make her way back to Ecuador to apply for a visa for Peru. Maria’s entry to Peru was permitted, because Yajaira holds a temporal residence permit from Peru.

Abelardo and Jonathan are cousins, who had spent four months traveling from Maturín to Tumbes. They travel by foot and stop at varied cities for temporal jobs. Their entry to Peru was rejected due to the fact they have neither passports nor Venezuelan IDs with them. Ana, with her brother and sister in law, left Caracas 6 days ago. They made their way to Tumbes by bus. They were denied from entering Peru because they don’t have visa for Peru on their passports.

Somaly and Sorely are two sisters, whose family decided to travel together to Lima Peru. They left Maracaibo one and half a months ago. They initially aimed to settle at Bogota, Colombia. After living in Bogota for one month, they realised that it has become increasingly more difficult to secure jobs in Bogota as Venezuelans. Hence they decided to travel further south to seek better employment opportunities. They were aware of the new enforcement of visa requirement from Peru, and secured visa before they left Bogota. They were permitted to enter Peru, since all adults in the family have valid passport and visas for Peru.

From left to right: Marco(Somaly’s husband). Somaly, Ismael and Iskael( children of Somaly), Sorely, Alvaro( Sorely’s husband), Alono and David( children of Sorely)

Iskael is the youngest immigrant in this family, 7 months old, just 3 months younger than his cousin Alono.

Antonio (left) left Maracay a year ago. After spending almost one year in Bogota, he decided to travel to Lima by foot and hitchhiking. People call him “Mochilero” (Backpacker in Spanish), because he only has a backpack. Antonio was robbed of his passport and ID in Bogota. He paid 270 USD for the”unofficial” service to enter Peru in the same evening.

Eduardo, travels alone from Maracaibo to Lima, where his parents reside. It took him 16 days to reach Tumbes by public transport. Eduardo has a valid passport, and has an appointment for Peruvian visa application on 5th September in Loja.

Luciani and Valeri, two sisters who travelled 8 days with their grandmother and their pet Kake by bus from Calabozo. Their parents have moved to Lima one year ago. Their entry to Peru was denied, because their grandmother doesn’t have a passport, and Luciani and Valeri’s have to be accompanied by legal guardians.

Angie, from Valencia, took her three children on her trip to Lima. Luis(1 years’ old), Sofia, Sebastian. Angie’s husband had lived in Lima for a year, but doesn’t hold a temporal residence permit. They opted for “unofficial” service after spending a week at the border when their entry was finally denied.

Juan and David(with the black strip), have been travelling for week since their encounter at Rumichaca border between Colombia and Ecuador. Ruben (in red cap) met David at the Tumbes immigration office and comforted David when David was crying after being rejected to enter Peru. Ruben and Juan usually tease David by calling him “minor”. David will turn to 18 in this November. Since he is an underage, to gain permission to enter Peru, he has to either to be accompanied by an authorised adult to Ecuador to apply for a visa for Peru, or to enter the refugee camp in Tumbes until he reaches 18. Juan has a valid passport and decided to travel back to Quito Ecuador to apply for Visa. Ruben was permitted to enter Peru on September 1st, when his application as a political refugee was permitted.

From left to right: Hami, Sofia and Victor

Hami and Sofia are cousins. Hami’s mother Dyanira and Sofia’s mother Kaleris are sisters. Dyanira has moved to Lima for almost two years. Vitor is Dyanira’s husband’s cousin. Victor and Kaleris traveled from Cabimas with three children Hami, Sofia and Victoria( Kaleris’ new born baby, just 2 months old). Kaleris’s husband also lives in Lima and holds a valid temporary residence permit, hence Kaleris, Sofia and Victoria are granted entry to Peru. Since Hami is not travelling with his legal guardians, he was denied to enter Peru. Therefore Hami’s mother Dyanira had to come to the border to pick up Hami. Dyanira arrived on 2ed of September. While the rest of the family made their way to lima, Vitor has to go bank to Ecuador for visa application.

From left to right: Rosa, Gloria(on the ground), Daniel, Jhoudi, Jhouber

Rosa, together with her two children Luz and Daniel, travelled from Aragua a week ago to meet her husband in Lima. Rosa’s husband, used to be an inspector at a drilling company back in Venezuela, has now worked in Lima as a security guard for a year. Rosa and Daniel have both valid passport and visa to enter Peru. However they were rejected to enter Peru since their passport don’t have proof of evidence of leaving Ecuador legally( without the exit stamp from Ecuador immigration office).

Jhouber, from Guasdualito to Lima, travels with his partner Luz and two children Melanie and Jhoudi. They left Guasdualito half a month ago, and got robbed in Bogota. Since they don’t have any documents of identity, they applied for civil refugees.